Kenichi Shirahama
Kenichi Shirahama is the main protagonist of History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi. He is also the disciple of Ryõzanpaku. Background and Profile Shirahama Kenichi is good natured timid guy, that was treated as a loser at the beginning of the series. He loves reading how to... books, and gardening, and is very timid and coward, thus having no friends. However that all changed when he met Furinji Miu, a beautiful yet shy girl, who "fights like an assassin", and show no fear in the face of true danger. After the fateful meeting, he decide to stand for himself and be truly strong; or at least, strong enough to protect those who are dear to him. He actually had met Miu before, alongside Ryūto Asamiya, his best friend back when they were 6 years old, and after seeing Miu defeat a thug trying to assault a kind old lady both Ryuuto and Kenichi vowed to become strong, but Kenichi forgot the fact and, that it was Miu who gave him the Ying Yang medal he carries on the neck of his shirt all the time, as a remainder of said promise. After entering Ryõzanpaku, the place where all the strongest martial artists who have mastered their styles gather, he has slowly begun to change. Although at first he ran at the very first sign of danger, and didn't want to train unless forced by his masters, he endured the hard training and seems to be slowly growing to love martial arts. He was not seen as a serious fighter by any of his opponents, which has led to many victories over seemingly impossible odds, and his care for his newly found friends has made him prove victorious time and time again, thus changing his attitude to the point where many of his classmates think of him as cool. Though his masters claim that he has no talent whatsoever for Martial Arts, in only 6 months of training he has managed to defeat several opponents, most of them trained to fight for all their lives, and considered true genius, and Furinji Hayato, the Elder of Ryõzanpaku has stated that Kenichi reminds him a lot of him in younger days, and the claim could be an encouragement from his masters not to be laid back. He can even intimidate his masters with a special kind of look, though that confidence from him is still easily shattered. He seeks "enough power to protect those that he loves", but the Elder said, that saying that is the same as stating "I want the power to kill those who are my enemies". What Kenichi really seeks is the power to definitely protect his loved ones by defeating his enemies without causing more than enough damage to them, ergo protecting his enemies and well; and the elder has stated that is already the level of STRONGEST IN HISTORY. Kenichi seems to have another power within him, which his opponents often describe as light in the middle of darkness, as many of those he has defeated turn over to the good side. Rachel Stanley described him as a ceramic vase being beautifully crafted, and Ogata Isshinsai, has stated the infinite potential inside Kenichi and that his bases are so solid, that he could become the highest building ever. On occasions he breaks down into dou like combat when someone hurts Miu Plot Overview Kenichi is a first year high school student who likes to read How to... books. He was initially viewed as a weakling by the rest of his school and was ranked as the weakest student. In order to become strong enough to protect others, he becomes a disciple of the Ryōzanpaku Dojo, and eventually lives there, so he can fully embrace his masters' teachings. Despite his whiny nature, he grows to be a strong fighter when motivated, usually when using his skill to protect others, adversary and ally alike. Though he is no longer picked on by the delinquents at his school, Kenichi's excessive mistreatment by others is one of the main sources of humor in the series. He is constantly ridiculed and looked down on, physically abused for no reason, is always denied his only pleasures of reading and gardening, and receives no praise at all for his accomplishments and actually only gets ridiculed more (sometimes by people much weaker than himself). Isshinsai Ogata believes that he possesses untapped potential, and if he could unlock it, Kenichi would become the strongest in the world. Later on, it is revealed that he and Ryuto or Odin, the First Fist of Ragnarok, were once childhood friends, before Kenichi moved out of the neighborhood. Though Kenichi initially did not remember Odin, he was actually the one who gave a cat badge to Kenichi, which he later exchanged with Miu for a Yin Yang badge. Kenichi remembers a vow to become strong, but the vow that is important to Odin is one to fight for possession of the badge Kenichi got from Miu. During a visit to his old neighborhood to try to remember how Odin knows him, Odin fights and defeats Kenichi, taking his badge and exchanging it for one he'd gotten out of the same vending machine the other badges had come from. When he fights Ryuto during the final battle of the Anime and manga, he is unable to defeat him with his usual style, because Ryuto had adjusted his Seikūken to counter it. However, when he imitates his masters' styles of fighting, he is finally able to overpower Odin by changing his rhythm, disrupting Odin's Seikūken. At this point Odin combines Sei and Dou together, giving himself immense power at the risk of burning himself out, and once again takes control of the fight. However, in order to save Odin from the destructive path he is on, Kenichi manages to regain his strength. Here, it was shown that Kenichi can completely imitate his masters' fighting styles, and can copy every single move of his masters, even using their facial expressions and catchphrases (such as yelling "Apapa!" when he was imitating Apachi). Just when the strain on Ryuto's body reaches its limit, Kenichi uses his final attack. Ryuto admits his defeat and returns Kenichi's Yin Yang badge. His masters always state that Kenichi has no talent at martial arts, but Akisame stated that Kenichi is a genius at hard work. This is further reinforced in volume 15 of the manga, where Odin commented that Kenichi has mastered the essentials of the Seikūken in just a matter of days. Through his hard work, Kenichi has developed a unique fighting style since he instinctively combines all the different types of martial arts he learns from his masters: Karate, Jujutsu, Chinese Kenpō, and Muay Thai. He called it the Saikyou Combo. He has 3 so far. He sometimes creates new moves by combining the techniques from each style of martial arts. After he learned how to use Ryusei Seikuken he combined it with Saikybo Combo 3 and used it against Shou and the combination of the two techniques sapped all his strength. His physique also happens to be far above average as he has been through hellish training with his masters; his speed, stamina, muscle mass, and strength have all increased, and he can take very serious hits without much injury due to being knocked around on a daily basis at the dojo. Miu even commented how Kenichi is a genius in getting beaten up. His greatest strength lies in his endurance, in no small thanks in part to the extreme training (getting beaten up) he endures under his masters. When he was training with Elder in Black Valley he said do not practice martial arts for a week. After hearing this he felt that he would be rusty if he didn't practice martial arts. On a side note, it appears that Kennichi can intimidate his masters, with probably the exception of Shigure, by looking at them a certain way. He fights to protect someone he cared about like Miu. He seem flustered when somebody said if he like Miu. He can't forgive someone if somebody hit Miu. During the fight with Boris he said that all YOMI had darkness in their heart but Kenichi had light in his heart. The light seemed to connect with Miu during the fight with Rahdin. Sho said in Battle 258 if you raise your 5 senses to the top you can achieve the 6th sense. In Battle 260-261 Kenichi fought while unconscious revealing his true skill. Sho said that when a martial artist trains greatly he can fight unconscious. He also said that fighting him while in that state is like fighting a martial arts text book. This endurance is best seen during the D of D arc, and most specifically during his fight with Shou Kanou where he endured multiple blows that would have probably seriously injured or killed a normal person. In Battle 321 while he fought Takeda they both used Ryuusei Seikuken and it appears Kenichi is more skilled at it then Takeda. During the battle with Boris the masters said they trained his muscles to have both endurance and explosive power. Apachai said he implanted the hitting instinct into Kenichi. During his fight with Spark he used the Jiujutsu's Idori to counter her Drunken fist. He learned Meotode from Sakaki and he used it against Radin Jihan in their battle. He said he didn't practice it because he felt the name is lame, as it means Married Couple's Hand. Kenichi's most powerful attack is one that he invented himself dubbed "Mubyoshi" (literally no beat). It is a combination of all the things that Kenichi has learned from his masters into a single punch powerful enough to defeat most people in a single blow. He first developed the technique while training with Sakaki and used it to defeat Siegfried. Its name is derived from the fact that the attack doesn't produce a readable rhythm which makes it difficult to predict. The attack's only weakness is that to gather the necessary power Kenichi must touch his fingertips to his opponent for several seconds which leaves him vulnerable to counter-attack. In spite of this only Sho Kano has ever been able to withstand a direct hit from the Mubyoshi and only Ryuto has ever been able to block it, though he admits that he would've been in serious trouble had the attack connected. Though his masters constantly claim that he has no talent, this could possibly be a ploy to motivate him to work harder. Despite the fact that Kenichi has not even been studying martial arts for a year, he has defeated countless opponents who have been studying their entire lives. Even with the abnormally intense training he has received, Kenichi's growth is not normal. A good example is his defeat of Shou Kanou. Kanou has received similar training almost his entire life from nine different masters as opposed to Kenichi's five. His masters all have strength comparable to the masters of Ryõzanpaku (with the notable exception of Hayato). Kenichi was not at full strength having been subjected to two grueling battles. In spite of all that Kenichi was still able to defeat Kanou while simultaneously comprehending the second level of Seikuken. Hayato, who is constantly described as being the most powerful man alive, claims that Kenichi was a lot like himself when he was younger. Unlike most of the other characters, Kenichi tends to think logically, often crushing the dreams of young fighters who strive to create a strong gang in the future. He also sticks to his convictions; most notable is his belief to never hit a girl, no matter the situation, this vow often backfires as when women try to fight him they become extremely irritated, and mistake it for sexism. He even cares about the enemy's health and always tries to help them. Despite his strong moral standards however, Kenichi is not above buying perverted pictures of Miu and Shigure from Ma or going with him to spy on them while they're bathing. He is still scared of delinquents as shown in Battle 267, despite defeating opponents like Sho Kanou and other YOMI members. During the YOMI arc, Kenichi fights against several different members of YOMI culminating in his defeat of YOMI's leader, Shō Kanō, in the finals of the D of D tournament. During his fight with Shou Kanou, Kenichi is able to comprehend the second level of Seikūken called "Ryūsui (flowing water) Seikūken", which he learned from fighting the Elder during the D of D Tournament. During the battle both Boris and Ridhan both saw in Kenichi a light. Which may be his love for Miu. After the YOMI arc, Kenichi is defeated by Tirawit Kōkin, who took control of the Karate club, and goes on a mission with Shigure in order to overcome his fear of death. During the mission, Shigure and Kenichi are discovered by a weapons expert who was faster than Shigure when she was a kid. In chapter 287, Shigure gives Kenichi a present from the Elder, which are Miu's father's battle gloves. In chapter 296, he's fighting against Boris while they are at the school field trip to the mountain. Also Boris's master, "fist of destruction", ordered Boris and his subordinates to kill everyone at the field trip. Kenichi managed to win against Boris by employing a strangling move, thus proving to Boris that Katsujin-ken could be used to incapacitate someone willing to sacrifice their life to win. Kenichi is in current possession of Boris Ivanov's symbol of Ice, Ridan Jihan's Symbol of King, and lastly Sho Kano's Symbol of Sky. He wishes to keep them as reminders of his previous battles with them, though Miu and some of Ryōzanpaku want Kenichi to sell them to help pay for Ryōzanpaku's bills as they are made from very expensive metals and minerals from Kensei's and Akisame's observations of them. Kenichi has fought one of his best friends, Takeda Ikki, who has been trained by James Shiba to see how far they both have come as martial artists. The match, surprisingly, shows Takeda having the upper hand against Kenichi by using a variation or copy of Kenichi's technique, "Mubiyoshi" which he calls "Auto-Rhythm"(uses the same kanji), however it is explained by Takeda that Kenichi lacks the drive towards winning. So as a way to make Kenichi get that tencity he says that if he wins against Kenichi, he will confess to Miu his true feelings. As the battle rages on, both fighters use Mubiyoshi, but Kenichi uses an elbow blow to Takeda, which eventually renders him unconscious due to the strength of the blow. Takeda after losing consciousness fights Kenichi unknowingly until James Shiba stops the battle and admits defeat. After the fight with Takeda, Kenichi receives a challenge from Laughing Fist and Rachel Stanley. Mistaking that for Takeda's gift to Miu, he too went out to buy a present, and takes her on a date to a fast food restaurant. The two saw Renka and Ma Kensei going to a harbor and followed them. It turns out that they were fighting YOMI member Rachel and Yami member Deigo in a cruise ship. Infiltrating the ship, Kenichi and Miu discovered about a bomb that would onboard the ship ,which they attempts to disfuse. They reunite with Li Raichi who has turned body guard for a client onboard the ship and teamed up with her. They find main resistance from one of the Laughing Fist's disciples, a very fat and large man who has the endurance of a Master Class, though he does not have the talents to reach the Master level. (He was able to take Kenichi's Mubiyoshi and Miu's Finishing Attack several times without problems. Note that this is the only character so far to withstand multiple Mubiyoshis from Kenichi) . Miu, Raichi and Kenici engages in a long battle with him, but still are not able to defeat him properly. In addition, Miu failed to disfuse the bomb (which may or may not have been Raichi's fault, as she startled Miu by asking if she and Kenichi were going out. Luckily, Hayoto Furinji arrived and took out the Meatman effortlessly, before taking the bomb and throwing it out into the sea. Kenichi and Miu reaches the main battle site where Laughing Fist's and Ma Kensei's battle has reached a climax. Ma Kensei eventually won the fight, although the Laughing Fist had again staged them up by preparing the other ships to fire upon that ship in the case if he is defeated. Hayoto Furinji again saves the day by attacking the other ships directly. However, Yet another Yami member, the Bewitching Fist Mikumo Kushinada, appears whilst Hayato Furinji was preoccupied and attempts to kill Diego Carlo. She kidnaps Rachel despite Ma Kensei trying to prevent her, displaying a speed apparently greater than Ma's own. Mikumo Kushinada disappeared after Hayoto Furinji arrived with Diego Carlo on his back, but not before imprinting Kenichi's face into her memory. After the fight between the YOMI and Yami fight Kenichi returns to Ryõzanpaku, where he received punishment from the other master mainly for ditching cleaning duties to go out with Miu. He found out from his masters that Chikage's master is the Mikumo Kushinada he saw in the cruise ship. So as not to let other people get hurt in his battles again like Renka, he decides to train even harder to take on YOMI. However, this also resulted in a raised intensity of beating from his masters. He thanks Renka for battling for his sake, unknowingly charming her again. Meeting Chikage in the Gardening Club in school again,he continues his passive approach and she asking a question about when will the bud grows and tutors her about growing seeds. However, Chikage decides that she does not have enough time for the seeds to bloom, and tries to hand what seems to be a letter of challenge to Kenichi. She was disrupted by Miu, who took her letter, but Kenichi took it back (surprisingly, from behind Miu without getting thrown) and accepts it, declaring that he had decided that if his most ideal method of making friends does not work, his next best solution would to fight. Kenichi's next fight is against Ethan Stanley. After having both of his arms rendered unable to move, he defeats Ethan using the newest technique taught to him by the Elder :Korui Nuki which ends the fight. The Masters have recently admitted that Kenichi is now an "advanced" disciple. Because of this, he has been pitted against Tanaka Tsutomu who had entered the D of D tournament by himself and defeated an entire team with only his finger. Tanaka is in the "expertise" class or fighter and the Hayato himself stated that Tanaka was a master in this class. Kenichi has thus far held his own and has recently activated ryuusui seikuken and seems to have a grip on the situation showing his growth once again. The fight is stopped by the Elder once Tanaka envisions Kenichi as Kensei and attacks him out of rage. Physical Abllities *'Enhanced Speed': He can outrun a truck on full speed due to the amount of running he does with Akisame. Currently, his speed has increased enough to the point he can close a considerable distance in seconds. *'Enhanced Endurance': Kenichi possesses a level of endurance to is already near master level. He has obtained such high level endurance through the rigorous and grueling training of his masters unorthodox methods. But even before he began training at Ryõzanpaku, Kenichi had shown flashes of his endurance, as when he had to endure a beating in order to chase bullies away from picking on his younger sister Honoka, when the two were much younger. *'Enhanced Strength': While initially Kenichi was scrawny nad his strength was below average the amount of training Ryõzanpaku placed on him greatly increased his overall abilities. His newfound strength has allowed him lift and pull large amounts of weight during daily chores (which the masters force him to do) and knock out less skilled opponents with a single strike. His leg strength has grown great enough to withstand tremendous amount of impact and strike through water with no resistance. Having undergone the unique physical conditioning regimen of Akisame, Kenich's musculature has been rebuilt, now possessing a lean but well-defined physique. *'Enhanced Agility': During his second training with Hayato, Kenichi leg strength and dexterity was pushed to higher levels, granting him a much higher level of agility and a balance. His newfound agility has been commented by the other masters, even forcing them to put a bit more effort in their sparring sessions. Kenichi is also developed acrobatic abilities almost as Miu's level, able to easily scale and glide down a skyscraper with complete control and no wasted movement. *'Genius': Ryõzanpaku mentioned that Kenichi has no talent in martial art but he is a genius at hardwork and getting beat up so this also allows him to improve at an amazing rate. *'Untapped Athletic Potential': It can be said that Kenichi has athleticism of an elite level thanks in large part to Ryõzanpaku's training, but the amazing thing is that Kenichi has survived the training and reached such a level despite only training for a little less than two years in Ryõzanpaku. It is safe to assume that he had a lot of hidden athletic talent, but due to his timid nature and relatively peaceful attitude Kenechi never trained while he was younger. Now Kenichi is athletic enough to hold his own against young martial artists, who have been training for much longer and most likely had their athletic ability noticed at very young ages. Examples of this include being able to spar with his friend Takeda Ikki who was a high level boxer even before receiving Master Level Training from James Shiba. Kenichi is also able to finish right behind Boris Ivanov in a swim race, impressive because Boris is a high level soldier with outstanding physical condition. One of the best examples is beating Kano Sho. Sho had the most physical potential of all the Yomi members, as he was chosen from the Kuremi Sago , an organization that specialized in producing gifted young warriors dating back many years. Also Sho through the measurements of Yami hired scientists showcased elite level athleticism, and a body that was already maturing into one of a Master, as stated by Kensei Ogata Personal Techniques: * Strongest Combo: Yamatsuki(Karate), Kao loi(Muay Thai), Ugyuu Haitou(Chinese Kempo), and Kuchiki Daoshi(Jiujitsu) * Strongest Combo 2: Shutou Yokogan Men Uchi(Karate), Consecutive Teh Khao(Muay Thai), Tanba(Chinese Kenpo), and Seoi Nage(jiujitsu) * Mubyoshi: Kenichi's secret attack. It is a swift and strong punch, using the principles of Karate (moving the punching hand and the non-active hand at the same time as if "connected behind the back through a pulley"), Juijutsu (as if using a sword, by throwing ones body weight into the opponent to cut through a person),Chinese Kenpo (surpassing the limit of the mind with the feeling of sending your hand flying out), and Muay Thai (hit the enemy as if you're punching through him). Translates to "no beat," inspired by Seigfried's description of it not existing in the criteria of the opponent able to see its movements or the opponent analyzing its rhythm. The weakness of the movement is related to how kenichi needs to be in contact with the opponent for a brief time in order for him to be able to use it properly. Right now it's kenichi's second strongest technique. *Seikūken: A defensive technique first deployed by Elder. It involves controlling the entire radius within one's arm length, creating an impenetrable shield around oneself. Odin supplements this technique by releasing high amounts of ki, allowing him to confuse and scare his opponents, causing wayward attacks. The Seikūken can only be erected with a calm mind (i.e. jumping around or moving will make it difficult); if one is not calm, it would be near impossible to erect the Seikūken. In volume 16 of the manga, during his battle with Kenichi, Odin shows that he is able to overcome this limitation. The Sei type masters at Ryōzanpaku were able to implement Seikūken with just their mind. *Ryuusei Seikuken: A more advanced Seikūken instead of controlling the radius the Seikūken turn into a layer of skin to anticipate the flow of the opponents. You have to be absolute calm to use it even a slight of emotion will disrupt it. This move described by Miu as the ultimate form of Sei. If an enemy is too strong, reduce your Seikūken to a thin layer of skin and antcipate the flow and dodge the opponent's attacks. Although you can read the move of an opponent but that doesn't mean you can necessarily dodge it. There are 2 levels in Ryuusei Seikūken. First, is to read the opponent's flow. Second, imagine in your opponent's feelings and heart, and going with the flow overturn them. * Korui Nuki: Kenichi's ultimate technique, consists of a strong kick, with all of kenichi's power behind directed towards the "korui", the point where the defense of the opponent is the weakest. It's been said by the masters that were kenichi to use the full extent of the korui against any opponent, and truly master it, probably no member from yomi could withstand it. * '''Shiraha Nagashi: '''A technique taught to him to defend himself against armed martial artists, especially those using bladed weapons. As said by his Karate teacher, Sakaki, "when fighting a sword user, you often don't have time to defend and attack," and thus this technique was developed for this reason. In essence, it is a corkscrew blow which dodges a sword swing and punches the opponent simultaneously. As the weapon is swung, Kenichi begins the punch with the palm of his hand of the clenched fist facing upwards. Before his fist hits the weapon, he turns it counter-clockwise (when using his right hand), which allows his thumb to face up and the weapon to pass along the back of his hand without touching him, thus effectively dodging the attack. He then completes the rotation while using his shoulder to extend his reach and punch the opponent. It is important to note that Kenichi is known to use this technique against unarmed opponents as well, for example, he uses it when training with Miu at one point, and again in his Inter-disciplinary Sparring Match with Tanaka Tsutomu (though in this case he still managed to get grazed. Battle Log Ragnarok battles :vs Daimonji (win) :vs Tsukuba round 1 (lose) :vs Tsukuba round 2 (win) :vs Koga (win) :vs Ukita (win) :vs Takeda round 1 (win) :vs Tsuji (lose) :vs Crab head (win) :vs Kisara (no winner) :vs Hermit round 1 (draw) :vs Siegfried (win) :vs Hermit round 2 (interputted by Loki) :vs Loki (win) :vs Hermit round 3 (win) :vs Genson Ryū & Kōan Shokatsu (Koan win/Genson Draw) :vs Thor (win) :vs Valkyries (refused to fight) :vs Odin round 1 (lose) :vs Odin round 2 (win) :vs Tsuji round 3 (lose because of over confidence) :vs Takeda round 2 (win) Yomi challenge Battles :vs Radin Tidat Jihan (win) :vs Shou Kano (win) :vs Tirawit Kokin (lost) :vs Boris Ivanov (win) :vs Ethan Stanley (win, but not counted until Rachel Stanley was rescued) Category:History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi character Category:Katsujinken Category:Ryōzanpaku Category:Disciple Category:Shinpaku Alliance